


An Adversariorum

by signal_boi



Series: The Prophet [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: F/M, Gen, Manipulation, but he should be scared, don't break henry's heart, joey's concerned, more ink drinking, sammy's kind of an ass, y'all should be scared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 12:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12254439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/signal_boi/pseuds/signal_boi
Summary: You, an animator, and Sammy Lawrence- still the star-crossed workplace couple. Still the sole members of Bendy's cult. For now.Joey's planning something new and Sammy's concerned it could interfere with his personal plans for the cult and the rest of your coworkers. So who does he send to find things out? You. Who does he send to manipulate your best friend into spilling everything he knows, despite not having spoken to him in days? You. Who is he still giving ink in a glass to? You. It's always you. What are you doing with your life?Part 4 of The Prophet. (Finally. This is also a few pages longer than previous installments.)





	An Adversariorum

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, i know I started this series months ago. and chapter 3 just came out. and we've all seen everything and we're hype and we're all in love with someone. probably alice. still bendy for me. but y'know.
> 
> so as a few of you maybe saw, i lost my grandfather this spring. and with him, i lost the majority of my motivation to do anything remotely creative. it felt... kind of wrong. but with chapter 3 coming out, i figured it was long past time to update this. 
> 
> i originally intended this to be an actual prologue to the game. like, my version of the prologue. but with chapter 3 out and all the new information we've learned, nothing makes sense as just a prologue now. so, this is now going to be my Cult AU. it'll eventually end up where the game is now, but it'll be a much different path getting there than i originally planned.
> 
> on a side note, i've also started a sammy ask blog on tumblr in addition to my regular RP blog that i haven't told anyone about either.

In the weeks after Ruth’s  _ tragic disappearance,  _ life in general began to look up for you. You and Sammy were the star-crossed workplace couple, and even Joey muttered a congrats once the two of you had made an official announcement. Everyone was upset about Ruth’s absence, but life continued on. 

 

Despite initial concerns about… Bendy becoming the religious figurehead in your life, you and Sammy were going strong. And… that’s all that mattered, right?

 

Twice a day, you and Sammy found time to pray. Separately, of course. After you’d started praying daily, you noticed little things going better than usual. Whenever you were nearly out of paper or ink, they replenished themselves. Your pencils never wore down, and your primary dip pen never needed cleaned. You never seemed to get a single spot of ink on your clothes anymore. 

 

Sammy had been churning out song after song, and Joey didn’t have a single complaint about any of them. You were his inspiration, Sammy said. His light at the end of the hall. Since Ruth’s sacrifice, you and Sammy together had held two other rituals. You were still a little uneasy with the idea of grabbing random people off the streets, but Sammy assured you that he was thorough in his process, and that despite being worthy of sacrifice, the  _ sheep  _ wouldn’t be missed. You didn’t ask any further questions. 

 

-

 

Your shift ended twenty minutes ago, but you’d done a few extra frames to make up for the time that you didn’t have to spend cleaning up anymore. Might as well not waste the extra time. Hell, Joey might notice and promote you… Not likely, but it was a nice thought.

 

And speak of the (haha) devil- right as you were putting your pen down, there was a knock at the door. At first you thought it was Sammy, even though the two of you didn’t have any plans for the night. But you’d recognise Joey’s booming voice anywhere.

 

“Packing up? Think you could spare a minute? We need to talk about somethin’.” He was leaned up against the wall, his coat draped over his shoulder and a cigar in his mouth. Typical. You looked up at him and tilted your head to side a bit to imply you were listening. Neither of you noticed the pens on your desk slowly putting themselves away. “It’s you and Sammy. Well, mostly you.” 

 

Oh no. Did he witness something? “Is something wrong sir? Our relationship isn’t interfering with work. It’s doing the exact opposite, in my opinion.” 

 

“No, no, nothing like that. Just… Is everything alright? I know you’re happy together and the whole studio’s happy for you, but… You just seem a little different recently. I wanted to check up on you.”

 

Was that all? You tapped your chin and pondered his question for a moment. Were you really that different now than you were a few weeks ago? Did anyone else notice? “I don’t feel much different, Mr. Drew. I know I’m a lot happier than I was, but that’s really all. What did you mean by  _ different _ ?” 

 

For just a moment… just a half of a moment… Joey Drew looked  _ scared.  _ Only for a second, though. It faded as quickly as you’d seen it. 

 

“Just… You’ve been different recently than you were when you first came here. Not entirely a bad sorta different, but there have been some noticeable changes in how y’hold yourself. Just wanted t’check on you, s’all.” He stopped and looked away from you, deciding the finished frames on your desk were much more interesting. “And… I know you and Ruth were… friends… I see it’s not really affecting your work at all, seeing as you’ve been churning stuff out faster than Henry.  But… You’re okay, right?”

 

“I mean… Yes?” 

 

He wasn’t satisfied with your answer. That much was obvious. But he nodded anyway, curtly waved, and stepped out of your area. Not thirty seconds after Joey disappeared, Sammy had showed up in his place. He must’ve been close by, listening. Not that you’d blame him. You glanced up at him and smiled the warmest smile you were capable of. “Joey was just here.”

 

“Yes, I heard.” So he  _ had  _ been listening. Guess there wasn’t any point in reiterating anything. He already knew. Sammy always knew. “You needn’t be worried about his concerns just yet. Now. I overheard him mention earlier today that he has… a plan of some sort. Mr. Cohen’s not too fond of it, as usual, but he seemed especially irritated this time around. Joey wants to build something here, in the studio. I’d like to find out what it is, and if it’s going to interfere with our own agenda.” 

 

Sammy grabbed your coat for you off the rack in the corner and helped you into it, and then slipped something into your hand. A small syringe. 

 

“Just in case it goes awry. Don’t worry, I’ll be right outside.” 

 

“Sammy, what’s going on?” You lowered your voice to a whisper. Joey might not have gone far, after all. 

 

He held your cheek in his hand and kissed you briefly, then pulled you into a short hug. “I need you to do something. For us. For Him. I need you to speak with Grant, and then Henry. Try to figure out what this is all about. What Joey’s building. And if neither of them can tell you anything useful, you’ll confront Joey himself. I know it seems strange and confusing now, but I got a glance into Joey’s office. I saw some blueprints. And I think this is worth investigating. We need to make sure he’s not implementing anything here in the studio that would… disrupt our practices.” 

 

You didn’t know what to say. First of all, he wanted you to talk to Henry. You and Henry had been best friends for a long time. Almost the whole time you’d worked there, in fact. And with everything Sammy thought was necessary for this… religion… You hadn’t even spoken to him in days. What if he was mad at you? 

 

And if Joey found out you were going around asking about his next idea, and he didn’t want you to know, you could be fired. You doubted Sammy would lose his job as head of the music department, but he certainly would be punished somehow. “This isn’t a good idea, Sammy. We can’t sneak around.”   
  
“I’m not asking you to sneak around, dear. I’m asking you to be innocently curious. You’re a good actress. This will be easy for you. I’ll be outside with a tape recorder, not far. If something happens, I will be right there with you in a moment’s time. You have nothing to worry about.” 

 

You glanced at the syringe in your hand again, then slipped it into your coat pocket. “Alright. I’ll… I’ll do my best.” 

 

Sammy smirked like he always did when something immensely pleased him. He closed his eyes and pulled you close to him, buried his face in your hair, and just breathed. He’d done it before, after rituals and such. He stood and inhaled your scent, your perfume after it had mingled with the inky smell of the studio. It was the most intimate thing he’d ever done to you. 

 

When he finally let go, he took hold of your hand and squeezed it, then brought it to his mouth to kiss. “You’ll do fine. I trust you.  _ He  _ is watching, protecting you. You’ll do fine.” 

 

Your brain didn’t truly process anything between that and the moment you were off down the hall to Grant Cohen’s office. Sammy stayed at least twenty paces behind, likely to make it easier to hide should someone walk past. Most of the other animators were in the process of packing up, and the band downstairs had finally calmed down, meaning they were cleaning and putting away instruments. Grant’s office was just down the hall from Joey’s, but still far off enough that Joey wasn’t in earshot. If he’d even gone back to his office. You took a deep breath once you’d reached Cohen’s door, and you hesitated a few moments before lightly knocking. There was some paper shuffling, a book closing, and a cough before you got a grumbled  _ “come in”  _ from him. Sammy waved from the closet right next door, and closed it shut so he wasn’t visible from the hall. 

 

“Y’gonna come in or what?” Grant called, opening the door before you had the chance. He had a pipe in his mouth, and his dark hair was a little disheveled. “Oh. It’s you. What’d’y’want?” He stepped aside to let you in, then shut the door behind you. You really hoped Sammy could hear, let alone record everything through the wall. 

 

“Um, Mr. Cohen, I… Do you have a minute? It’s not especially important. Just, I was about to leave and…” You struggled to find the right wording without sounding suspicious. If only Sammy had given you a few prompts, a few things to say beforehand. 

 

He puffed his pipe and stared at you, right into your eyes. This wasn’t going to work. He would find out, he’d catch on, you were too suspicious-

 

“I’ma lil’ busy, but I’d appreciate a quick break. ‘Sides, genius down the hall can’t get mad. This is… work related, right?” 

 

“Well… Sort of.” Deep breaths. Calm, deep breaths. Grant wasn’t intimidating. He was frustrated, sure, but he wasn’t anyone to be afraid of. You were fine. “I heard a rumor earlier today. I uh… Overheard Mr. Drew. Talking about a new project. I didn’t hear much, and he seemed excited, and… I’m intrigued, honestly. I was just wondering if there was anything you could tell me about it without upsetting Mr. Drew. I’m very curious.” You did your best to seem light hearted and genuinely interested. 

 

Grant seemed to buy it for a minute, but then he shook his head and snuffed his pipe. “Ain’t much I can tell’ya, hun. Mr. Drew’s real concerned about keepin’ this one secret. Wants to surprise everyone, y’know how that goes. M’real sorry, I feel bad keepin’ secrets, ‘specially from people who ain’t done nothin to stress me out like Mr. Drew has. All I can say is… There’s gonna be a lotta ink. And it ain’t gonna be cheap.” He opened the ledger on his desk and went back to writing, seemingly ending the conversation. 

 

You sighed, mostly in relief that he didn’t seem to pick up on your nervosity. “Alright. Thank you, Mr. Cohen.” He nodded back to you, then waved you off. Guess you were letting yourself out. Sammy was nowhere to be seen out in the hallway, which meant he was still in the closet. What had he said about after speaking with Grant? … Oh yes, Henry. You deliberately walked past the closet where Sammy was hiding rather loudly to indicate you were moving forward, and about thirty seconds after, you heard the door open and close. 

 

Henry’s work area wasn’t too far from the front door. And just as you’d suspected, he was still there, working. He did more than any of the other animators, seeing as he and Joey had started it all. Fortunately your arrival didn’t startle him, and he calmly looked up to greet you. For some reason, his calm demeanor made your heart hurt.  

 

“Oh, hey. Long time no talk.” He didn’t look especially happy to see you, nor upset. But you had been… accidentally ignoring him. Not on purpose, just… You’d been so busy with Sammy. “I almost thought we weren’t best friends anymore. You and the Music Man… Yeah.” Oh no… Why did he have to be so poignant about it? 

 

You shuffled your feet a bit, and twiddled your fingers in embarrassment. “Henry, I’m sorry. I haven’t been purposefully avoiding you, I swear… It’s just-”   
  
“No, it’s okay. I get it. Linda and I were the same way at first. Joey thought we were dropping the project for awhile.” 

 

Could you really do this to your best friend? Play him like an instrument and talk to him for the first time in days just to get information? “Do you have a minute, Henry?”

 

“For you, of course.” He turned his chair around and wiped some sweat off his brow, leaving a little spot of ink on his forehead from where he’d gotten some on his shirt cuff. You really missed hanging out with him. Visiting him and Linda for dinner in the evenings, the three of you playing board games and drinking until midnight. And all of a sudden you’d dropped out of his life. “Whoa, hey, are you alright?” 

 

You didn’t even noticed you’d started crying. Henry jumped up immediately to dry your tears. He tried to hug you, but he must’ve decided against it. Perhaps he didn’t want to upset Sammy… If he even knew he was nearby. “Henry, I need to ask you something. It’s… not too important, but… It’s been on my mind all day.” That seemed to pique his concern even more. 

 

“Sure, what is it?” 

 

It took you a moment to gather your voice to speak. The tears weren’t really stopping, so he finally just handed you his handkerchief. All you could do was nod in thanks. Sammy was probably getting a little concerned by now. Who knows how much room he had on his tape recorder, especially since you were in Mr. Cohen’s office for several minutes. 

 

“What do you know about Joey’s next project? The big expensive one he’s keeping secret? I… heard a rumor it’s gonna be really big. And lots of ink.” 

 

His face seemed to fall, like he was disappointed. Of all things to talk about for the first thing in days, and you’re asking about a work project. “Oh… that… I uh… I’m not sure Joey would want me to tell anyone… Me and Grant are the only other ones who know. And you know how he is when he’s upset.” 

 

So that was no new information from either candidates. Sammy wouldn’t be pleased. He wouldn’t be mad at you, per say, but he wouldn’t be pleased. Finally it seemed like you got the tears to dry up. 

 

“Henry, please. It’s driving me crazy. We’re friends, right?” 

 

That single line seemed to hurt you much more than it affected Henry. He looked concerned for a moment, and then a bit quizzical, and then he sighed. 

 

“You  _ cannot  _ let Joey know I told you. This stays between us. Promise?”

 

“Promise.” That was… lie number two? Three? 

 

Henry sighed again and sat back down in his chair. He’d seemed tired and disheveled before, but now he looked even worse. Did he really change that quickly, or was it your mind playing tricks on you in the midst of your guilt? 

 

“He’s calling it the Ink Machine. I don’t know a whole lot more other than it’s gonna be big, it’s gonna do  _ something  _ to the ink, and it’s supposedly gonna be making life a lot easier for the animators… If we  _ believe,  _ he says. I’ve got a horrid feeling in my gut about it, but Joey won’t take a bit of criticism from anyone. Grant’s been trying for days to convince him that another big project like this could sink the company but does he care? No. It’s all about what Joey wants to do with the company. It’s all about what all of us can give so he can take it and twist it however he wants. If that thing gets put in, I’m done. I’m not feeding his delusions any longer.” 

 

A machine of some sort. An Ink Machine. Henry took his glasses off and pulled his hand down his face in frustration. “Sorry. Didn’t mean start goin’ off like that. You doin’ anything with Sammy tonight?”

 

“Not yet that I know of.” That was true, at least. Sammy hadn’t mentioned any evening plans.

 

“Linda’s been worried about you since you haven’t been around much. Wanna stop by for dinner tonight? I think she said meatloaf for tonight.”

 

“Actually… That sounds nice, Henry. I’ll be there.” 

 

Finally, he smiled a genuine smile. And you did, too. You continued your friendly banter with Henry for several minutes before he noted the time and said he had to be on his way to get home. You said your goodbyes, then you watched him walk out the front door. And then the studio was quiet. It was deathly silent for several minutes as you stood perfectly still. Except, every now and again, you could hear… breathing. Not like Sammy’s breathing, but… the building. You wished you could say it startled you, that it scared you to a degree, but it didn’t anymore. You knew who it was. 

 

After a good five to ten minutes of no Sammy, you furrowed your brows and crossed your arms. Was he ignoring you now because you agreed to dinner at Henry’s house? Didn’t he know by now that you loved him? And that Henry was married, for crying out loud?

 

Somewhere between questioning Sammy’s pettiness and the building’s breathing getting louder, one of Bendy’s cutouts popped out down the hall towards the stairwell. You knew what that meant.

 

The single cutout led you down to the music department by popping out from behind the wall of the next set of stairs to take, just like you expected. The door to his Sanctuary was already open, which was a surprise. He usually kept it closed for secrecy. Guess he was expecting you. The closer you got, the clearer you could hear the tape recorder. It seemed like he got some decent quality audio, considering the circumstances he was in to record. You thought for once in your life you could sneak up on him, but of course once you’d turned the corner, he was already staring at you, smiling. 

 

There were two glasses of ink on the shelf to his left, and the pipes behind him were pumping ink. You never understood why Joey thought the most efficient way to distribute ink across the studio was pipework. Perhaps that was what the machine was for? To regulate it and keep it from making so much of a mess? You weren’t sure how that would disrupt anything, but… Joey was never that logical. 

 

“You’re back. You certainly took your time.” Sammy shut the recorder off and turned to face you. You couldn’t read him this time. He just kept smiling. 

 

“Yeah. Henry invited me over to dinner tonight. Said Linda was concerned about me. But I suppose you heard that.” 

 

He handed you one of the glasses and took one for himself. “I did. I don’t mind. It’s an unforeseen opportunity, in fact.” Sammy always finished his ink long before you did. You didn’t mind. “This would be the perfect time to… Introduce someone new. And Henry trusts you. If you bring him to the light, I’m sure he’ll choose the right path.”  

**Author's Note:**

> so the ask blog is https://samueljericholawrence.tumblr.com/ . There's even a whole page of rules i wrote for the cult of bendy, as referenced in this series. i also picture the sammy of this series to look like the one on my blog. follow me! ask sammy stuff! if you have any non-spoiler questions about the fic, ask it there if you want! i'll probably answer
> 
> i also have a RP blog but it's more of an unrelated character that i stuck into the batim world so i won't link it for now.


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